


the evil intervention during the evil intervention

by ceruleanstatic



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-09
Updated: 2020-06-09
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:01:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24619534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ceruleanstatic/pseuds/ceruleanstatic
Summary: The Darkleys were in the middle of their evil intervention when the Bizzaro Ninja began to infiltrate the school. As the kids filter out to prepare for confrontation, somebody decides to drop out of the spitball brigade.
Relationships: Gene/Lloyd Garmadon, Lloyd Garmadon & Brad Tudabone
Kudos: 11





	the evil intervention during the evil intervention

**Author's Note:**

> As a disclaimer, I'm obligated to say that this is a Greenius fanfiction and there is heavily implied tension between Lloyd and Gene.

For once, the classroom was silent. Lloyd sat there, smiling in his ninja gi, which was practically invisible under the rope they tied him in. The other Darkley students exchanged confused stares, unable to respond to Lloyd’s logic. After some careful thought, Gene brought out his own reply.

“Uh,” he started, raising his hand to point at Lloyd. “He’s trying to trick us with mind games!” Gene asserted, following up with a defiant smirk. He stepped closer, readying another snarky response, but a sudden rumbling shook the building. The sound of heavy gear hitting the ground and the scraping of metal pierced the air.

“What was that?” A student whispered, looking to the others.

Most eyes were on Brad. The leader in most cases, but only because he spoke the loudest. “All right, boys, get to the supply closets! Go, go, go!” Brad shouted, ushering the students on without hesitation. Most of the Darkleys moved out, others were stubborn and were named Gene.

“You’re a part of the brigade too.” he said, rolling his eyes.

“I know, but _someone_ has to stay here to guard Lloyd.” Gene gestured to the Green Ninja, who seemed dispirited at the moment.

“He’s not going anywhere. Come on, Gene.”

“Nah, this is my plan, and I’m the smartest in the school. That makes me too valuable to lose, so you can spit balls for me.”

Brad groaned. He turned towards the door and walked out, muttering about how unfair it was. The finishing touch was how he slammed the door; how he had to pull it shut, hitting his foot in the process. Once Brad moved out of sight, Lloyd called for Gene’s attention.

“You sure there isn’t… _another_ special reason you wanted to stick around?” he hinted, tilting his head to the side. Gene wasn’t certain of what he meant, but assumed he was shooting to make frivolous small talk. It felt stupid to tempt it, but he supposed that convincing Lloyd to be evil would be easier if the intervention were more personal.

“I wanted to stay to talk with you in private.” he said, hoping Lloyd would bite the bait.

“Really? About what?” he eyed Gene with heavy suspicion, not quite buying the claim. Unable to come up with a believable topic to talk about, Lloyd lost interest. He sighed, but swiftly perked up again.

“... Or maybe you just wanna let me go.”

“What?”

Lloyd giggled. “It’s obvious you totally wanna let me go. You’re just hesitating because you might get caught. But don’t worry, if you let me go now, I can escape before Brad and the others come back.”

Gene shook his head. “Is this _another_ mind game? This has to be the lousiest reverse-psychology I’ve ever heard.” He crossed his arms in opposition, unsure of what Lloyd expected. You’d only speak that way if you had hypnotic powers, and Lloyd had no ties to the Serpentine. Not anymore, at least.

“And I really liked you too.” mumbled Lloyd, pouting now. Gene tapped his foot and focused on the door, hoping Brad would return. In fact, he wondered if he should just leave to join him.

“Would be kind of cool to partner up with an evil genius, but whatever. I mean, unless you still want to let me out. That’d be so great, haha. But you don’t have to, I understand—”

“Can you please just shut up!?” Gene’s face hovered inches from Lloyd’s. If there wasn’t so much rope, he’d have him by the collar, but instead he had his hands on Lloyd’s shoulders. Lloyd’s body was too warm, to his surprise. Because of the lofty ropework, he thought. But he brushed that thought away; he didn’t care to help. It felt like Lloyd was toying with him, as if sitting around babysitting wasn’t already insulting enough.

“Sorry.” Lloyd apologized. There was no lie, no prank, no… romantic undertones. Gene let go, feeling an embarrassing amount of regret. He could see Lloyd’s sincerity, but now making eye contact felt compromising. As much as Gene expected Lloyd to beg for freedom, the desperation was, well, disheartening. He didn’t feel so much power over him, but more pity. But how could he know if Lloyd wasn’t trying to trick him again? Gene hated the idea of being beaten by some meta, not that he could help but be distrustful. He hardly knew his own emotions, after all.

Stepping back and away from Lloyd, Gene attempted to fix his offset glasses. It only took one touch for him to realize how much of his embarrassment was _showing_. He knew Lloyd saw his annoyance, but he didn’t act like he noticed how he was blushing, which was acceptable at the moment.

Amidst the silence, there were yells coming from the hallway, breaking the atmosphere. Gene made his way to the door and nudged it enough to peek through. This part of the hallway was empty, but he could hear the conflict down the corridor. It didn’t take an evil genius to know that they wouldn’t win. The Ninja cared so much about Lloyd, he thought. He thought they could overpower them when he first developed the plan with the others, but the situation now was more than overwhelming. Every school day was just as loud and chaotic, but the fear that infected the air was new. It was unsettling.

“I don’t think those are my friends, but I’m scared too.” Lloyd’s voice faltered, almost as if he hesitated to speak. Gene heard him, but he didn’t feel like responding. He continued to listen to the conflict outside.

“I’ll tell them to stop.” He begged. Gene could tell Lloyd was struggling again. He could hear the chair legs scratching against the hardwood floor.

But Gene didn’t want to let Lloyd go. He didn’t want to be caught releasing him when he made it his own responsibility to keep watch. He knew it was bad, but he’s supposed to be bad. Everybody was, and if he wasn’t, oh, his dad would be so mad.

“We can make it look like there was a fight, whatever you want. I need to—” Lloyd added, proceeding to knock himself onto the ground. The sound was soft. It must’ve hurt. Gene could easily be seen as a traitor, but upon hearing Lloyd hit the ground, his empathy kicked in. He rushed to Lloyd’s side, but only raised Lloyd back up slowly.

Then the door burst open, revealing an out of breath Brad. Gene quickly turned towards him, removing his hands from the chair. “Ow,” cried Lloyd.

“What are you doing?!” Brad asked, not expecting a satisfying answer. The other students filed in, taking immediate notice of the scene. Gene feared exactly this, but he didn’t have enough time to prepare a proper excuse. He didn’t know what to say.

“Well, I was… I was just—”

“I made him mad, so he tipped the chair over.” Lloyd interjected. “Gene’s super evil.” He winked, supposedly. Half of his face still lay on the ground.

Unfortunately, Brad saw through the lie. “You’re letting him go, aren’t you,” He pointed at the open door, then at Gene. It felt as if the judgement of the entire class manifested itself into a sharp blade at the tip of Brad’s finger. It threatened him.

“I was _literally_ captured by the Ninja! Noogies hurt a lot more when they’re from the Master of Earth! And you’re just gonna give up?”

“He’s letting me go because he’s trying to help!” yelled Lloyd, his words somewhat slurred. Again, face on the ground. He tried shifting his position, using enough momentum to flip the chair onto a different side. His left cheek freed itself from the pressure of the floor, but the impact from earlier left behind a mark Gene wouldn’t tell him about until later.

“Help? A bunch of evil versions of the Ninja are fighting the good Ninja; he’s just gonna help the good Ninja!”

“Does it _look_ like he’s about to turn evil?” Gene retorted. Brad might have respect for being cunning and evil, but what Gene lacked in charisma he had plenty of in breaking faulty logic. “We didn’t account for Lloyd to be so— so— pure…” He swallowed. “And not like pure evil — just pure. Uncorrupt. The plan has been a failure since the start.” As he said this, he untied Lloyd, although it took him a few extra tugs to get it all off of his body. It was incredible how awful Brad was at tying rope. He always looked like he knew how to do it. After Lloyd shook himself off, he stood upright and addressed the crowd.

“Hey, Gene might be good,” Gene winced in response. “But so is everyone else here.” he continued. Brad squinted at him. “I mean, you all might try to hide it, but deep down, you’re not all that bad.” Lloyd said. “And _we’re_ living proof.” He winked and nudged Gene’s shoulder. Gene tried to roll his eyes in response, but he was blushing again. He pretended to adjust his glasses instead to cover it. “I didn’t have a choice, you idiot.”

“Ugh, whatever. This was totally lame anyways.” Brad complained, glaring at the other students to respond similarly. They too, agreed that they were good, but made sure to show as much resistance as possible. Once everybody had their attention on their new provisional leader, Lloyd announced the first order of business.

“All right, let’s see what we can do about those ‘evil Ninja’.”


End file.
